A bathroom stall. The ward bathroom — three stalls, the strip lighting humming above, the particular echo of hard surfaces. You are sitting on the toilet and you don't know how you got here. Early morning from the light under the stall door, the ward not yet fully awake. The gap between whatever came before and this stall on this morning is blank and featureless as the gaps always are.

The first thing is the seat.

Not pain — just wrongness, a soft pressure where there shouldn't be softness, the wooden chair coming up against sensitive and unfamiliar flesh, flesh that registers the hardness of the wood with a directness that makes you shift immediately, instinctively, your weight rolling forward onto your thighs. Better. Marginally. The underwear is wrong too — something silky, something that rides and gathers in ways that underwear shouldn't, the fabric light against skin that is reporting every thread of it.

You look at the table.

Chapter 25 – The After Party

By the time the night cycle began aboard the Queen’s Rage, the mess deck had transformed from a sterile cafeteria into a celebration zone. Fluorescent lights had been dimmed and replaced with soft golden hues, casting a warm glow over the crowd. Streamers and makeshift banners—scavenged from storage and splashed with squad colors—hung between bulkheads, fluttering with each vibration of the ship’s engines.

There are worse places to be trapped than a cozy farmhouse on a snowy Christmas Eve. Worse people to be trapped with than Luke Shepherd. But belonging requires truth, and staying requires courage, and Mark is running out of both. It's a good thing Christmas has always been about miracles.

Chapter 23 – The Summit War

The flag's light pulsed once—a brilliant flash that surged through the darkness, momentarily dispelling the swirling smoke that clung to the air like a thick veil. Gradually, it steadied into a slow, rhythmic glow, a heartbeat of illumination in the oppressive gloom. Kara gripped the pole tightly, her breath coming in quick, ragged gasps behind the visor, her heart racing in anticipation.

For a few tense heartbeats, the world around her held its breath, suspended in an eerie stillness.

Author's note: I took a long break from this story because I was trying to figure out how to write fighting scenes better, especially since it is a huge part of the story at this time. I think I have come up with a battle sequence that should be intense and fun to read. So I went back to the setup to add more details to getting them armored up. I hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters.

Rosa’s Voodoo Repository
by Lin Dale

PART ONE – ROSA’S STORY
(The final part, Part Two, is written and will follow shortly)

Chapter 1: A Tale of Two Cupcakes (and One Questionable Decision)

Chapter 19: Fun, Sweat, and Guns